[tommytink]

Someone has told me that at the end of summer, so now into September, there is a different type of fly that lays nastier maggots that burrow into the flesh rather than chew away on the top. I’ve never heard of this and thought it was just green and blue bottle flies. Anyone know what they are??

[twizzel]

All maggots will eat into flesh given enough time as far as I know.

[bj_cardiff]

No, same flies, but I think the ones that hatched earlier in the season are active so more about. I've been fine all summer but myself and a neighbouring farm have seen more struck sheep in the last few days than we had all summer.. Crovect has just run out and I was hoping not to have to buy a new new bottle as its late in the season.. dam flies..

[shep53]

Google LUCILIA SERICATA  so that you understand the enemy

[tommytink]

Thanks Shep, I’ll take a look.

We had a lamb struck bad a couple of months ago and flesh was certainly eaten Since then we’ve had maggots but not done too much damage. Everyone’s been Clik’d but it seems where it’s been wet and mild the flies have just loved it. Someone I know has had way more issues than normal.  Mostly our lambs affected. Caught one ewe with eggs. I did not enjoy winter here too much last year but I shan’t be sorry to see the back of fly season. Such a worry.

[shep53]

Maybe look at Clik extra next year ,supposed to do 19 wks so you could do them very early . Remember that clik does not stop eggs being laid or maggots hatching it just inhibits their growth or deforms them . Tendency is for tiny maggots to graze the skin and as they get bigger they tend to start burrowing needing more protein . Make sure to put on a max dose of clik so as the lamb gets bigger they are still covered , and since it sticks to the fleece, it unlike crovect won't hurt the lamb

[SallyintNorth]

Why do you say Crovect would hurt the lamb, [member=9755]shep53[/member]?   It sticks on the fleece too, doesn't it?  Leastwise they are at pains to tell you that the sheep is only protected where you sprayed...

[shep53]

Crovect does not have a sticky like clik ( fleecebind ) so is held in the grease , it is a neuro toxin so overdosing is dangerous , this is why it has a min weight application . You should read Cypermethrin on Wikipedia

[SallyintNorth]

Crovect does not have a sticky like clik ( fleecebind ) so is held in the grease , it is a neuro toxin so overdosing is dangerous , this is why it has a min weight application . You should read Cypermethrin on Wikipedia

Oh, I do know that an overdose of Crovect is dangerous, I have experienced that with two of my sheep when ex-BH inadvertently applied the whole-body dose to the horn area .  They both went off their legs and were many months getting back to normal. 

And all my handspinning friends are aware of the dangers too; a fleece with Crovect on it could cause issues for a handspinner, spending so long in contact with the fleece over the course of processing it.

I have never used Clik as it is too environmentally harmful, but having read up about it now I discovered two things I didn't know before. 

1.  It is present in the fleece for up to 3 months and the sheep should not be shorn in this time.  So would that suggest that it is more harmful to shearers than Crovect?  A quick google didn't turn up anything about harmful effects on humans (or indeed, on anything other than dung flies and the stage 1 larvae of the blowfly.)   

And 2, the effect is very specific to the moult between stage 1 and stage 2 of the larvae.  If the maggots infest dirty wool, they may be able to get past this transition, and there is no inhibition thereafter.  So it is possible to get maggots eating your sheep even if you have Cliked them.   

[shep53]

Yes it says on the container not to handle the wool without protection and to wear waterproofs if the wool is wet ,in the same way it says don't smoke and any product on skin should be washed off , but i can't find any problems for Dicycanil searching around the web except to dung flies and aquatic life an hour after applying the product . Yes it says clip any dirty wool before applying and take off any dirty wool and reapply to area at any time .  I would point out that crovect say's exactly the same regarding dirty wool

[tommytink]

I was wary of Crovect when I saw it had a minimum weight. This is what got me in a pickle with the lamb that got it bad. I was thinking about withdrawals and that Clik would be too long, and Crovect might have a bad affect on it. Put two and two together and the minimal weight reason I was worried about Crovect should have cancelled out the longer withdrawal as they obviously weren’t going anywhere anyway but another lesson learned.

Don’t both Clik and Crovect say don’t handle sheep afterwards?

I always thought that Clik stopped flies pitching and laying, but now Shep mentions it I do faintly remember hearing somewhere that it’s actually meant to stop formation. This hasn’t stopped me from applying Crovect to eggs and very small maggots as I’m too fearful of the consequences. I think I could re-Clik couldn’t I? It says if weather has been particularly bad, especially after application, or after dagging etc. I certainly gave four mucky ram lambs another couple of strikes over the rump after clipping them back. Someone I know applies iodine to struck areas, but think this is only suitable if it’s small due to the drying out. Scarily enough, because I read Crovect treats flystrike, I never knew that you shouldn’t apply to broken skin. I never did this thank God, and maybe it’s just me being an idiot for reading it that way. Someone else I know says they used blue spray to treat it.
All I know is after experiencing it and knowing how long the recovery was I don’t want it again!

[twizzel]

Clikzin works in the same way as Clik, but has a 7 day meat withdrawal and lasts 8 weeks. I used it on all my lambs this year which meant I wasn’t stuck with fat lambs in meat withdrawal. Then used Clik on ewes post shearing and ewe lambs for keeps.


Next year I’ll do the ewes in April with Clikzin too, to tide them over till the shearer comes later in May, as we get flystrike problems very early in May down here.

[shep53]

Yes you could reapply if you think it may have been diluted by rain BUT once its on and dried then it seems to stand up to rain fairly well , just remember that if you reapply then you start the withdrawal   period again , you could as twizzel says use clikzin for a shorter withdrawal

[SallyintNorth]

Clikzin works in the same way as Clik, but has a 7 day meat withdrawal and lasts 8 weeks. I used it on all my lambs this year which meant I wasn’t stuck with fat lambs in meat withdrawal. Then used Clik on ewes post shearing and ewe lambs for keeps.


Next year I’ll do the ewes in April with Clikzin too, to tide them over till the shearer comes later in May, as we get flystrike problems very early in May down here.

You are not worried about the fact that it is present in the fleece for up to 2 months?

From the Clik datasheet :

Do not shear sheep in the 3 months after treatment.

and that for Clikzin :

If you need to handle sheep within 2 months after treatment, wear synthetic rubber gloves and long trousers or coveralls. 

I do understand the desire to protect your sheep early in the season!  [member=4333]Fleecewife[/member] has a method she uses, whereby, if I remember correctly, she treats only the "undercarriage" of her hoggs with Crovect or similar, using a spray bottle setup of her own devising, which tides them over until shearing.  I'm sure she must mention it to the shearer, but as it's only on the undercarriage I doubt if they worry about it.

[twizzel]

No, my shearer actually suggested it- obviously this is personal preference but he said he was happy to rather than have to rush to me to shear because I had sheep with strike.


Edit- Clikzin is 8 weeks post treatment not 12. But my shearer was happy to clip within that 8 week period.